A New Voyage Round the World by a Course Never Sailed BeforeDefoe, Daniel
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A New Voyage Round the World by a Course Never Sailed Before
Defoe, Daniel
Adventure stories; Voyages around the world -- Fiction
The wind proving contrary, it was no less than four days before our boat
came back, so that the poor men were held in great suspense: but when
they returned, they brought the gunner with them who had selected those
men from all the rest for our new ship; and who, when he came, gave me a
long account of them, and what care he had taken to pick them out for
our service, delivering me also a letter from my new captain to the same
purpose: upon all which concurring circumstances, we concluded to take
them on board; so we sent our boats for them, which, at twice, brought
them all on board, and very stout young fellows they were.
When they had been on board some days and refreshed themselves, I
concluded to send all on board the new ship; but, upon advice, I
resolved to send sixty of my own men joined to forty of these, and keep
thirty-four of them on board my ship; for their number was just
seventy-four, which with the gunner and his twenty-one men, and the
sixteen men who came with the worthy ambassadors, and would not go on
shore again, made one hundred and twelve men; and, as we all thought,
were enough for us, though we took in between forty and fifty more
afterwards.
We were now ready to go to sea, and I caused the new ship and the
brigantine to come away from the place where they lay, and join us;
which they did, and then we unloaded part of our provisions and
ammunition; of which, as I observed at first, we had taken in double
quantity; and, having furnished the new ship with a proportion of all
things necessary, we prepared for our voyage.
I should here give a long account of a second infernal conspiracy, which
my two remaining prisoners had formed among the men, which was to betray
the new ship to the pirates; but it is too long a story to relate here;
nor did I make it public among the ship's company: but as it was only,
as it were, laid down in a scheme, and that they had no opportunity to
put it in practice, I thought it was better to make as little noise
about it as I could. So I ordered my new captain, for it was he who
discovered it to me, to punish them in their own way, and, without
taking notice of their new villanies, to set them on shore, and leave
them to take their fate with a set of rogues whom they had intended to
join with, and whose profession was likely, some time or other, to bring
them to the gallows. And thus I was rid of two incorrigible mutineers;
what became of them afterwards I never heard.
We were now a little fleet, viz., two large ships and a brigantine, well
manned, and furnished with all sorts of necessaries for any voyage or
any enterprise that was fit for men in our situation to undertake; and,
particularly, here I made a full design of the whole voyage, to be again
openly declared to the men, and had them asked, one by one, if they were
willing and resolved to undertake it, which they all very cheerfully
answered in the affirmative.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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